Danny cursed, "Fudge muffins. I have nothing to wear for the costume party," He looked at the curtain, "Maybe the...classic bed sheet ghost?"
Jack shouted, "GHOST!" He burst into the room Danny was in, "Where is the ghost?!"
The Fenton Finder blabbered, [There is a ghost right in front you. You must be an absolute idiot to not see it. Get an eye surgery. Or better yet, get a new brain]
Danny wondered if it was just him or that gadget got even sassier than the last time he saw it. Shaking his head, he waved his hand, "Hey, Dad. No ghost here. Just me, Danny. You know? Your son that is definitely not dead?"
Jack laughed, turning the finder off, "Oh. Dan-o! My boy! You're becoming as big as your Grandpa Bruce!" He smacked Danny's shoulder before rubbing it, "Hm. Have you been working out? That's some muscles you got there, son," He then looked at Danny, "Anywhere, what are you doing in here?"
Danny looked around, "Uhm...it's my room? Anyway! I need to go get something to...wear at the costume party. See you whenever!"
Jack laughed, "Have fun! Just don't wear that stupid Phantom costume that has been going around!" He then growled, "Once I get my hands on him..." He quietly cackled to himself.
Danny laughed nervously before escaping the house. He huffed once he's outside and started walking towards the town. He tried to think of a costume that he can wear, won't make him look like a movie audition reject, and would not, in any way or form, connect him to Phantom. A full body costume that have a mask would be nice.
"Danny?"
Danny paused at the familiar voice. He looked to see Elsa stepping out from a bakery with a box of donuts. He stopped to smile at her, "Hey Elsa! Out for donuts?"
She looked at her donuts, "Yes. They have a 60% discount sale for these new flavors for a box of half dozen and I thought I should buy them just to taste all of them. Anna insisted when she informed me about this bakery chain and saw the ad on the internet. However, I realized as I pay that six would be a bit much for me to finish alone and keeping it overnight would ruin the flavor,"
His stomach growled to volunteer before he could say anything. Elsa looked at him, bewildered. He blushed under his face mask, "Sorry,"
Elsa shook her head, "No. That was a wonderful idea. I could use help and I did want to taste all the new flavors. We could cut each donuts into halves and share between us two, making it three per person," She looked at him, eagerness in her gaze, "How about it? I could ask the proprietor within to help halve it?"
Once again, his stomach growled in agreement for him. Danny glared at his belly, "You know what? I don't think I have a say in this," He gestured, "Lead the way, princess,"
Elsa froze, "What?"
He blinked, "What?"
She looked at him strangely before shaking her head, "Please don't call me that,"
Danny cleared his throat, "Sorry. I was just joking,"
Elsa sighed, her tense shoulder lowering, "I see...well, I don't mind the teasing. It reminds me of my sister. But please, do not call me princess,"
Danny frowned, rubbing his neck in confusion but nodding either way, "Okay...?"
That was strange, he thought as he followed Elsa back into the bakery. He wondered what that was about. Elsa was quick to ask the staff behind the counter to cut the donuts in half and plate them so that they may eat inside. She added extra large tips for them just to make them happier and as thank you for their service. After a moment, she returned to Danny with two plates of warmed donuts along with some drinks. She looked at him, "I'm afraid I am not a fan of coffee of any kind. I hope the chocolate drink would make for a good replacement,"
Danny shrugged, "I hate coffee myself. They, uh...don't really do well with my...special ingredients," He had tried taking them with ectoplasm. It ruined any impression he may once had of coffees. He sighed, "Even now...the taste...I can still taste it on my tongue..." Worse, it kept coming back whenever he drink coffee, "Blegh,"
It was that horrible.
Elsa blinked, "Noted. No coffee for you. Especially not with you...special ingredients,"
Danny laughed as he looked at the donuts on his place, "Huh...I have never seen these flavor combos before," He picked one up, "This one smells like cinnamon...yum. Crunchy!"
Elsa picked one of her own up, "...lemon meringue..."
They took their time eating the donuts. Considering that none were chocolates, it goes well with the chocolate that Elsa bought. Danny was most amused by the bacon maple combo. He suspected that this must had been created by a Canadian or someone who had been there. After all, those Canadians seemed to put maples on everything that they eat.
He sipped his chocolate as he asked her, "What are you going as to the party?"
Elsa hummed, "What did you plan to go as?"
He blinked, "Why are you asking me?"
She tilted her head, "Are we not going as partners? Is it not the tradition to match when attending such events with the person you are going with?"
Danny stared at her before groaning, "About that...I don't have anything to wear. I can't exactly go as any kind of ghosts. My parents will riot. Not to mention, many people are probably going to go as Phantom. I could go as the typical bed sheet ghost, except maybe dye it with glow in the dark green? A mask would be nice too,"
Elsa hummed, "I think...we could still dress you up as Phantom,"
Danny gasped in horrified disbelief, "Elsa, what? Why would you-?!"
She raised her hand, "Calm down. There are other Phantoms out there, you know?"
He quirked a brow, "Huh?"
Later, after the donuts, Elsa took him back to the manor and brought him to a large closet full of men's suites. She looked at Matthias, "Do you think that anything Father owned will fit Danny?"
Matthias looked at the boy and reached out, "Excuse me," He grabbed Danny's shoulders, to the boy's confusion. He then pulled back before humming, "We will need to tailor the width of the shoulders. He is broader than...Master Agnarr," He moved, "There is that one suits that was wrongly measured. I believe we can adjust that one," He picked out a deep maroon and black suits, "Here,"
Danny stared at the suits and when he accepted it, he almost dropped it. Even though he's wearing gloves, he can tell; the fabric was hella expensive. He broke in cold sweat as he looked at Elsa, "Elsa, Elsa. Can I even wear this? If I ruin it, knowing my terrible luck, I don't think I have the money to pay you back,"
It didn't just feel expensive, it even looked expensive. Heck, it even smelled expensive!
Elsa ignored his concern as she stared at the suits, "It is red...alright!" She clapped her hands, "Let's dress you up!" She looked at Matthias, "Matthias! Bring me red fabric and get me a hat with wide brim! Also, red and black furs along with those giant dyed ostrich feathers of the same color!" After a moment, she asked, "And someone bring me a mask that looked like a skull!"
Danny looked on in confusion as the whole manor seemed to burst with chaotic activity. He managed to chase after Elsa, "Elsa, snow cheeks, what are you turning me into?"
She looked at him, "Surely you have seen it?"
He frowned, "Seen what?"
She huffed, "The Phantom of the Opera?"
Danny blinked, "The who of the what?"
Somehow, that seemed to be the wrong answer as Elsa's eyes flashed, "This cannot be,"
That evening, Elsa dragged him to the entertainment room to introduce him to the world of musicals. At first he was skeptical that he would even be engaged to it past the first scene. However, it turned out that musicals weren't just boring old opera screeches that Mr Lancer sometimes fancied during detention, especially when Danny's sensitive ears would feel like bursting. Rather, the songs were actually engaging. The fact that there were murders, intrigue, painful pining, a guy that was actually scarier than most ghosts Danny faced and he was just a disfigured human was actually interesting to watch.
Best of all when Elsa started singing "Think Of Me" softly beside him.
He didn't know that she could sing.
When they reached the scene where the Phantom appeared in public in red and black with the mask of ivory skull, Danny caught on. Somehow, he grew excited. Especially when the Phantom, Erik, started threatening the people of the Opera to clean their noses and started managing the Opera House just how he liked it instead of bumbling around. The air of danger and mystique were...intriguing.
He actually felt for the guy, even though he was the villain, when Christine and Raoul left him to find their own happiness. After all, he was the one to cherish Christine's dream and helped her soar. Even if he did it all in the worse way possible, he did care for her.
Danny looked at Elsa, "Who are you going to dress as?"
Elsa paused as the end credit rolled, "I...I didn't think..."
He looked at her sheepish face, "Seriously? You are all gung-ho about dressing me up as this Red Death Phantom and yet you didn't think about yourself? Well, since you somehow chose a masquerade theme, I think you can dress up as just about anything,"
Elsa hummed, "In the original work...Christine was blond," She nodded, "Well, the theme will be musical either way," She looked at him, "So! What do you think my version of Christine will dress up as for this masquerade?"
Danny blinked, "Wait. The original work?"
Elsa huffed but he can tell that she was amused by his ignorance, "Well, Danny Fenton, shall I introduce you to the world of musical plays and the work that they were based on? The Phantom of the Opera that we just watched was actually originally a book written by a French writer, Gaston Leroux. It wasn't a musical until a man named Andrew Lloyd Webber picked it up," She added, "The original Phantom is far more ghastly, twisted, brilliant, and dangerous than the one that the musical presented. Best of all, even though the story of the Phantom of the Opera itself is fiction, the incidents and the so called haunting of the Opera House in France was actually real. It add to the imagination of the people when they visited the place,"
Danny blinked, gawking at the passion in Elsa's face about the musical, "You...really like this story, huh?"
She hummed, "It is one of my favorite out of the many plays I had seen on stage," She added, "After all, it is a story of a tormented man, who knew no love and yearned for one, a living ghost haunting the halls of an Opera House, being played by people in an Opera House. Although...it is no doubt that he, in his twisted idea of love, tried to groom Christine into the perfect little angel wife is very disturbing. The actor that played the Phantom was indeed a dashing man and seemed of similar age to the actress that played Christine, the truth in the book was that the Phantom was much older than her in age. He had been everywhere in the world and was one of the people that helped build the same Opera House that he haunted, a genius ghost architect that added all the tricks needed to make the building his perfect haunting ground,"
Danny grimaced, "I have got to read that book. It sounded really disturbing,"
Elsa actually flashed him one of her rare, unseen before, little grin, "Well, something more to talk about when you're not on duty,"
He hummed before asking, "So what is Christine-Elsa going to wear?"
Elsa paused at that, "Hmm..."
It wasn't long before the day of the party arrived. Danny shifted the heavy cloak over his shoulder, adding a bit of spirit gum on his skin before putting on the skull mask. He had already put on black eye shadow all over his eyes to add to the eeriness of a skull. Elsa had somehow managed to recreate the creepy skull mask that the actor in the movie used for his costume. She took some art liberty to make the costume look more original instead of a simple rip off from the movie. He then fixed the wide hat over his head before looking at himself in the mirror.
He looked simply creepy.
Nice.
When he walked down the stairs, he sighed at the sight of the empty house. His parents had taken up patrol that night, because it's a 'ghost night', as they would like to call it. Here's hoping they won't hose down innocent people in costume like they did last year and almost got sued with harassment. Then again, the police will also be on the look out for trigger happy ghost hunters.
Leaving a bucket of candies in a plastic pumpkin basket, he quickly made his way to school. He snickered when young tricks-or-treaters screamed at the sight of him in the waning evening light. He knew that Elsa had added a white glow in the dark paint with red undertones to his mask, causing them to reflect lights in the most eerie way possible. She really loved her costumes and plays.
He wondered what she will dressed up as that night.
He happened to like the white dress from when Christine first debut on stage.
There was also the almost skimpy one when the Phantom 'invited' her to his abode. But...Danny gulped, that will be too much for him to handle. Tapping his sword that Elsa had somehow convinced him to use as part of his costume, a very much real rapier that she somehow owned, he whistled tunes from the musical. He had to admit it, even if jocks like Dash would just call him nerd for it, that musicals were fun.
He might not be into the older ones that people his age couldn't understand, but he recently discovered 'Hamilton' and man was the rapping a bob.
What had the Drama Club at his school been hiding this whole time?
For that matter, why didn't Elsa join them instead of the Fencing Club? She had a really nice voice when she sang that "Think Of Me" from the movie. Even if it was quietly, Danny actually enjoyed the way she sang the song. He wondered if she had taken singing classes before.
"Dude! Is that you, Danny?"
Danny turned to see Tucker dressed in shades of green with a green hat and Sam in something different; a black ballet costume complete with black feathers and dark makeup.
Danny greeted them, "Hey. What are you trying to be?"
Tucker grinned, "The guy that never grow up!"
Danny quirked an invisible brow, "Peter Pan? Really?"
Tucker shrugged, "What can I say? I'm growing out of my childhood! Just one last huzzah, you know?"
Danny turned to Sam, "Ballet?"
She huffed, "The Black Swan," She rolled her eyes, "The only girly costume that would shut my mom up," She tip toed on the black pointe worn over black tights with bramble design, "Don't get used to this,"
Danny hummed, "Don't have to worry about that,"
She pursed her lips before eyeing him up and down, "Red Death? Really? Did she put you up to this?"
Danny shrugged, "Hey! The Phantom was a cool character, alright? I might not ever want to meet a sociopath like him. But guy got style, you have to admit,"
A familiar limousine stopped beside him and he looked to see Oaken step out to open the door for Elsa.
When she stepped out, he wondered where her wings had disappeared to. She somehow managed to find the dress that Christine wore for her debut, but instead of golden stars and off white, she was dressed in icy tones and silvery blue stars that sparkles under the waning sunlight. Her hair was delicately pulled down into an intricate braids, diamond stars scattered down the platinum length. The icy bustles behind her fluttered like an albino peacock's tail. She looked at him, "Well...you look very dashing indeed, Lord Fenton,"
She reached to pat down his cloak hanging from one shoulder and looked at his cravat critically before reaching over to fix the knot that he just learned how to make that morning through a video tutorial. She then stepped back, gloved hands poised before her as she nodded, "Now. I would say that a smile will complete any style. However, I think some souls would be stolen to the afterlife if you smile while wearing that,"
Danny gulped, "You looked like the North sky,"
Elsa looked at the green iridescent sheer shawl that she carried over her elbows, "Good. That was the idea. I ran this over with Anna and she insisted that I add my own flair to the decided costume," She finally looked at his friends, studying Tucker, "One last huzzah to your youth?"
Tucker chuckled, "Yeah. Something like that. Nice that you recognize what it is. My Dad thought I was trying to be this dude named Link or something,"
She turned to Sam, "Ah. The Swan Lake. A tragic play of lost innocence,"
Sam cleared her throat uncomfortably, "Yeah,"
Danny cleared his throat as he offered his arm to Elsa, "Since you dropped here, I guess you want to walk together?"
Elsa gracefully accepted his offered escort, "Why, Milord Fenton, are we not entering as a couple?"
He blushed, "W-what?"
She tilted her head, "You did ask me to attend together, yes?"
He awkwardly asked, "Yeah, but...are we a couple?"
Elsa nodded, "In the context of taking someone to a party, yes,"
He somewhat deflated, "Right! Right...in that context. Nothing more,"
She looked at him, "More? In what way,"
He laughed it off, "Nothing!"
Behind him, he can hear Tucker coughin mean amusement, "Suffer,"
He put his free hand behind him and flipped Tucker the bird. The snort was all the answer he got before he focused on Elsa beside him. Even in the darkening twilight, she was radiant like white snow. She did not put on makeup usually, but today she put on a slight blue and lavender shadows on her eyelids. There was a shimmer of silver glitter dusting the corner of her eyes, adding a fae feel to her face. But the most eye catching was the deep red of her lips.
It did not take him long to notice that people were looking at them as they make their way to the hall where the school hold the costume party. At first they looked starstruck by Elsa, then paled at seeing him. He snorted an amused laugh, catching Elsa's attention, "What is it?"
He shook his head, "Nothing. Just the irony,"
Ironic because...this was just them, right? Her, the spirit that represented all that was alive in this world. He, the ghost that haunted the land. As a spirit, people would admire and revere her. While as a ghost, people would fear and revile him. This was just a mirror of the future that would soon be true.
For a moment, he wondered what He did to Elsa in that future that never was...
Terror gripped his chest before he dispelled it by asking Elsa, "Think you're going to sing that song?"
She blinked, flustered, "Why would I do that?"